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conferenceseries.com
October 24-25, 2016 | Valencia, Spain
International Conference on
Environmental Health & Safety
Volume 4, Issue 5 (Suppl) Occup Med Health
ISSN:2329-6879 OMHA, an open access journal Environmental Health 2016
October 24-25, 2016
MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE DUE TO BIOMASS
SMOKE EXPOSURE
Jordi Olloquequia
aUniversidad Autónoma de Chile, Chile
In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), inhaled particles and gases trigger an inflammatory response, favoring tissue
proliferation in small airways and tissue destruction in lung parenchyma, in addition to the recruitment of immune cells to these
compartments. COPDmortality and morbidity have increased significantly worldwide in recent decades. Although cigarette smoke is
still considered the main risk factor for the development of the disease, estimates suggest that between 25% and 33% of COPD patients
are non-smokers. Among the factors that may increase the risk of developing COPD, biomass smoke (BS) has been proposed as one
of the most important, affecting especially women and children in developing countries. Despite the epidemiological evidence linking
exposure to BS with adverse health effects, the specific cellular and molecular mechanisms by which this pollutant can be harmful
for the respiratory and cardiovascular systems remain unclear. However, a considerable amount of evidence has shown the potential
of BS as an enhancer of lung inflammation. On the other hand, an impairment of some innate immune responses after BS exposure
has also been described. Regarding the mechanisms by which biomass smoke alters the innate immune responses, three main classes
of cell surface receptors, the toll-like receptors, the scavenger receptors and the transient receptor potential channels have shown the
ability of transducing signals initiated after BS exposure. This paper is a comprehensive review of the immunomodulatory effects
described after the interaction of BS components with pulmonary cell receptors, under a COPD-oriented point of view.
Biography
Jordi Olloquequi completed his PhD in 2010 from the Department of Cell Biology of the University of Barcelona in collaboration with the Vall d’Hebron Hospital
Research Institute (VHIR). After a postdoctoral research in that very group, he became Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona, Spain. At present, Dr.
Olloquequi is a full professor at Universidad Autónoma de Chile. He is the Principal Investigator of a research project funded by the Chilean National Science and
Technology Fund (CONICYT). His main research line aims to study the connection between inflammatory processes and disease, specially those in the respiratory
and nervous systems.
Jordi Olloquequi, Occup Med Health Aff 2016, 4:5 (Suppl)